Steel stocks soar up to 14% as government extends safeguard duty till March 2018

NEW DELHI: Steel stocks surged up to 14 per cent in Wednesday's trade after the government announced an extension of safeguard duty of up to 20 per cent on certain steel products till March 2018, a move seen as a bid by the policymakers to guard the domestic industry against cheaper imports from China.

Earlier this month, the Directorate General of Safeguards (DGS) had called for continuing of restrictive duties of up to 20 per cent till March 31, 2018, PTI reported. The DGS had suggested a ad valorem safeguard duty in the first year from September 14, 2015 to September 13, 2016 on hotrolled flat products of non-alloy and other alloy steel in coils of 600 mm width or more.

In September last year, the government imposed provisional safeguard duty of 20 per cent on import of certain categories of steel. It was followed by a fixed minimum import price (MIP) in February on 173 steel products ranging from $341 to $752 per tonne.

Currently, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is levied at 12 per cent on payments made for under-construction property or ready-to-move-in flats where completion certificate has not been issued at the time of sale.